The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Council to take in-depth look at situation July 20
by Mark Reaman
The Crested Butte Town Council will discuss the evolving Mt. Emmons molybdenum mine and water treatment plant situation at its next council meeting, July 20.
Councilman Shaun Matusewicz wants to focus on a request from the Red Lady Coalition (RLC) and High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) to ask state and federal agencies to impose a bond on the plant in case the mining company controlling the proposed mine, U.S. Energy, folds.
But Crested Butte mayor Aaron Huckstep wants the council discussion to be much more broad and look at potential unfolding opportunities to take control of the mineral rights and subsequent land use possibilities.
Town attorney John Belkin said he and the town staff would put together a comprehensive history of talks and negotiations held over the years between the town and U.S. Energy in light of a fading company.
RLC chairman Bill Ronai gave the council some background on recent developments with the company. He said the stock had gone to 47 cents from $4 a share in less than a year, giving it a market cap of just $13.1 million. He said the price of molybdenum sat at about $6 a pound and Thompson Creek, a one-time partner with U.S. Energy with a heavy moly background, was mothballing two of its major molybdenum mines. The cost of running the water treatment plant on Coal Creek and holding the mineral rights was costing U.S. Energy millions of dollars every year.
HCCA public lands director Ali Melton said all that was adding up to potential trouble. “This information emphasizes something we have pushed for a long time and that’s that we need the water treatment plant to be bonded,” she said. “That helps protect the community. I would ask the council to let the three primary agencies know of the situation and put it on record that you want a bond that’s big enough to operate the plant if something happens to the company.”
Melton said the Colorado Water Quality Control Division, the state Mine Reclamation Board and the U.S. Forest Service all “have some skin in the game and could demand a bond. HCCA strongly encourages the town to draft a letter and put it on the record that the town needs protection.”
Huckstep asked the staff to come up with a town-specific analysis for the next council meeting.
Ronai said an operating bond was not the only concern. He said given that the plant was more than 30 years old, “It will need some serious maintenance sooner rather than later. So an endowment fund to cover the $1.8 million annual operating costs on top of some maintenance and capital improvements money is likely needed.”
Belkin promised the council would receive a thorough background memo of previous discussions.
